FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT KOREAN WAR - PAGE 5

The Clinton administration is about to do what no enemy of the United States was ever able to do: Eliminate all the battleships in the U.S. fleet. There are only four of them left--the Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Jersey--all launched during World War II, when the Navy had a total of 23 battleships. These last four survivors have in recent years been berthed at either Philadelphia or Bremerton, Wash., as part of the inactive or "mothball" fleet held in readiness for the next war. But that call is likely never to come again for these dreadnoughts.

"The United States has always had a pretty sacred rule," President Barack Obama said in response to those who criticized his decision to exchange five Guantanamo detainees for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. "We don't leave our men or women in uniform behind. … Period. " Anyone familiar with the battle of Mogadishu depicted in the film "Black Hawk Down," or who can recall Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch's rescue in the Iraq War knows the extraordinary lengths to which the U.S. armed forces will go to uphold this creed.

Services for Romeo F. Palamides, 62, an auto racer and builder and designer of race cars for many years, will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday in the chapel at 4727 W. 103d St., Oak Lawn. Mr. Palamides, of Bridgeview, died Monday in Christ Hospital, Oak Lawn. He had been the owner of Romeo F. Palamides Race Cars in Chicago. A native of Oakland, Calif., Mr. Palamides was in the army during the Korean War and came to Chicago in 1965. Survivors include five sons, Dominic, James, Clay, Milo and Christopher; a daughter, Jeanine; and five grandchildren.

The demilitarized zone between North and South Korea isn't what I though it was. I spent the better part of the day there July 26 at the invitation of the South Korean government, during events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War, the shooting part of it, anyway. My grandfather, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, brought the United States and the United Nations to South Korea's defense when the North invaded on June 25, 1950. I don't know about most Americans, but I always pictured the DMZ as a vast, 160-mile wasteland lined with barbed wire and gun turrets, manned by soldiers glaring at each other through binoculars.

In your Tempo section I saw two articles, World War II on one side and Vietnam on the other side. In your May 19 Chicagoland section, there was an article about Memorial Day by Christi Parsons. She mentioned WWII a couple of times and Vietnam several times. There is no mention anywhere in any of these articles about another war-the Korean War. The last sentence in Ms. Parsons` article states, "But we can`t just let people forget either." Ms. Parsons forgot all of the veterans who fought in the Korean War. For the record, during the Korean War there were 54,246 U.S. deaths, 103,284 wounded, 4,652 POWs and 8,529 missing.

Edward Pomarzynski, loving son of the late Frank Moral and late Catherine Pomarzynski, nee Majchrowicz; brother of the late Gertrude. Veteran of the Korean War. Services were private. Info Nelson Funeral Home, 773-561-5147.

Richard W. Hasty, 65, a disabled Korean War veteran and 40-year resident of Villa Park, died July 22 at the Hines Medical Center in Maywood. Mr. Hasty was a member of the Villa Park VFW Post No. 2801. He received a Purple Heart for the injuries he received in the Korean War. Surivivors include his wife, Joyce; two daughters, Lisa Hayes, and Gail Hasty; six brothers; two sisters; and three grandchildren. Services were held Wednesday.

Fifty years ago last month, an armistice was signed halting one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history. In three years, the Korean War claimed millions of lives and left a peninsula divided between freedom and oppression. More then 37,000 U.S. and allied soldiers--including 5,535 Illinoisans--made the ultimate sacrifice, and hundreds of thousands more risked their lives to preserve freedom for the Korean people. Despite the tremendous sacrifice of our troops in Korea and the present-day tensions rooted in its outcome, the Korean War regrettably seems distant in America's collective memory--in part, because the conflict has never formally ended and its place in history falls between two even bloodier conflicts, World War II and Vietnam.